As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday, 5 December 2016

Some of Ireland's favourite birds are on brink of extinction - report

Large parts of Ireland's environment is in a worse state today than 20 years ago, a major report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.

Bird species, including the corncrake and the curlew, are almost extinct. There has been a "dramatic reduction" in the number of pristine rivers with high water quality, and traffic is causing serious air pollution. The 'Ireland's Environment: An Assessment 2016' report also shows the average household now produces 20pc more waste than two decades ago, and says there is a need for "decisive leadership". While the overall state of the environment is "good", there are "serious underlying signals of concern".Report co-editor Dr Jonathan Dernham said there was a need for integrated policies to protect the environment. "We have not done well on nature protection, and we have lost some of our highest quality waters while at the same time reducing the number of seriously polluted waters," he said."If it was a school report card, it would be 'could do better'. We're winning and losing at the same time. The real challenge for the State is we're seeing that improvement is inconsistent and sporadic, as the joined-up policies are not there."Continued